FAQ

About The NFI Certified Specialist

– Hearth and Home has more NFI Certified Specialists on staff than any other fireplace store in Illinois!

Q: Why do I need help from a knowledgeable hearth professional?

A: You’re choosing an appliance that can bring years of warmth and comfort to your home… if it’s installed properly.

Harnessing the beauty and warmth of fire for the home is not a do-it-yourself project or something you should necessarily trust to the lowest bidder. The hearth in any home is a focal point and center for family enjoyment. As such, it calls for important decisions about the appropriate appliance or products for your goals. Proper placement, venting and protection from combustibles are very important considerations. Both for safety and performance, hearth products require considerable technical knowledge and skill in the designing and installation of them.

Q: How do I find a knowledgeable hearth professional?

A: As with other trades, an excellent indication of competence is an individual’s training and testing. In the hearth products industry, the National Fireplace Institute® is the independent, nonprofit certification agency that produces professional training materials and conducts nationwide testing of technical knowledge and skills. All of NFI’s activities are overseen by the Hearth Education Foundation, an independent non-profit organization.

Q:How do hearth professionals achieve Certification?

A: NFI Certification means that an individual has passed a rigorous examination based on a training manual that has been reviewed by industry experts. The Training Manual for each hearth specialty is a comprehensive reference source for the fundamentals of that subject area, and including includes essential topics such as combustion theory, fuel comparisons, safety code regulations, appliance design and sizing. Certification may be earned by hearth industry professionals in three hearth specialties:

NFI Gas Specialist

NFI Woodburning Specialist

NFI Pellet Specialist

Certification is renewed every three years. NFI Certified Specialists have a dated certificate, wallet card, and are listed on the NFI Certified Internet List available on this site.